It was on this day in 1966 that The Ugly Dachshund first had audiences howling with laughter in theaters. This romantic romp tells about the misadventures of a couple of newlyweds, whose happy home goes topsy-turvy when taken over by four mischievous dachshunds and one very mixed-up Great Dane. Disney Legend Dean Jones managed to impress Disney enough with his starring role in The Ugly Dachshund and his first Disney film, That Darn Cat, that he was immediately signed for a third picture, Monkeys, Go Home, and would go on to appear in more than a dozen Disney films. Sharing the bill with Dean was Suzanne Pleshette, who was particularly happy to be cast in a Disney movie (her deep voice had mostly resulted in “bad girl” roles). According to a 1966 interview, Suzanne recalled that Walt Disney said, “Just because she’s got a deep voice doesn’t mean she can’t do a clean movie.” She went on to appear in a handful of Disney movies and lent that deep voice to animated Disney projects.
